wetherill



March 24, 1964 w. c. WETHERILL CARD TABLE Filed Sept. 14, 1961 FIG.I.

INVENTOR William C. Wetherill W AT'T ORNEY 'S' atent 3,125,971 Patented Mar. 24, 1964 3,125,971 CARD TABLE William C. Wetherill, 1673 E. Willow Grove, Cheltenhanl Township, Pa. Filed Sept. 14, 1961, Ser. No. 138,012 1 Claim. (Cl. 108-125) This invention relates to tables, and more particularly to tables used for playing cards.

Heretofore card tables have had a rigid top surface which makes it difficult to remove the cards from the top of the table without either sliding the cards to the edge of the table so as to get the fingers under the cards, or sliding the fingernails under the cards so as to remove them. Card table covers have been devised. These are sometimes padded to give a more resilient surface, so as to aid in the removal of the cards. Other tables have been devised wherein material, such as canvas have been suspended across the hollow central portion of the table so as to aid in the removal of the cards. These tables have the disadvantage of the canvas not being readily cleanable, because it is difiicult to remove and replace. Certain other tables have avoided this disadvantage of cleaning the top of the table by having a series of sheets of paper clamped into a depressed central portion of the table, whereby the top sheet may be removed when it becomes soiled. This type of structure does not produce a resilient or yielding surface to aid in the removal of the cards.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a card table having a rigid marginal surface portion and having a yielding central surface portion.

It is another object of this invention to provide a card table with the central portion of the table having a yielding surface to facilitate the removal of the cards therefrom.

These and other objects will become apparent from the description of the preferred embodiment of this inven tion, as set forth in the following description and in the drawings attached hereto and forming part of this application.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the card table with the card table cover broken away.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an expanded perspective view of a modification of the card table shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on line 44 of FIG. 3.

The top portion of the card table has the usual fold ing legs 11, 11 pivotally attached thereto by means of the pivots 12, 12, and are held in an open position by the collapsible braces 13, 13, maintaining the legs in a vertical position when the braces are in the open position as shown in FIG. 1. The card table top comprises a marginal piece 14, 14, shown in FIG. 2 and an inner surface portion 15, shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The inner surface portion has the marginal edge thereof flush with the marginal piece 14, 14. The inner surface portion 15 has a depressed central section 16 therein. This portion 16 is depressed about A; to inch below the marginal part of the central panel. The depressed area has the sponge rubber piece 17 cut to fit and is covered with a fabric cover 18 which completely covers the resilient element as shown in FIG. 2 and is attached to the resilient element by adhesive.

While in the above description the marginal portions 14, 14 and the central panel 15 are described as two parts, they may also be made of one part, either of wood, metal or reinforced plastic, such as fiber glass reinforced melamine plastic. The legs may be hinged at the table top by any means or may be made rigid if it is not intended to fold the table.

A modification of the above described card table is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. In this modification the resilient element, such as sponge rubber 19 is inserted to the edge of the table on all four sides and has the four rigid blocks 20, 20 set in the corners thereof. On top of the resilient element is a fabric covering 21 which covering is attached to the sponge rubber element 19 and overlaps in the corners so as to be received by the blocks 20 and held thereunder. This secures the sponge rubber element to the table top and gives a resilient surface up to the edge of the table. This permits the player to remove the cards that are adjacent to the edge of the table. The

locks 20 are fastened to the end portion of the table 22 by fastenings passing through the bottom of the table 22 and into the blocks 20. These fastenings are not shown. This secures the element 19 to the table. When it is desired to recover the element 19 the blocks 20 are removed, the sponge rubber element is removed from the table and the cover 21 removed therefrom and replaced with a new cover.

Sponge rubber, to be inserted in the depressed area, is described for purposes of example only, and any type of soft yieldable material which may be supported by the portion of the table top that is below the cut-away section may be used. Plastic foam, such as isocyanate, has given satisfactory results.

While in the above description of the preferred embodiment of this invention, certain materials have been set forth, the invention is not limited thereto, but is only limited by the claim attached hereto and forming part of this specification.

What is claimed is:

A card table having in combination;

(a) a rigid unitary top with a depressed central portion,

(b) said central portion being filled with a yieldable material selected from the group consisting of sponge rubber and synthetic plastic foam,

(0) a cloth cover attached to said rigid portion and covering said yieldable portion,

(d) and foldable legs to support said top portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 555,903 Johnson Mar. 3, 1896 1,660,723 Robineau Feb. 28, 1928 1,817,433 Bellows Aug. 4, 1931 1,846,746 Nave Feb. 23, 1932 1,865,011 Hupp June 28, 1932 1,950,540 Calhoun Mar. 13, 1934 2,015,118 Mayer Sept. 24, 1935 2,276,108 Skolnik Mar. 10, 1942 2,439,027 Stanitz Apr. 6, 1948 2,717,187 Morgan et al Sept. 6, 1955 2,887,349 Pagnotta May 19, 1959 2,926,427 Hostetler Mar. 1, 1960 

